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1996 California

6–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Pac-10), coached by Steve Mariucci.

Schedule and results

California in 1996, game by game: won at San José State 45–25; won vs. San Diego State 42–37; won vs. Nevada 33–15; won vs. Oregon State 48–42; won at No. 17 USC 22–15; lost at Washington State 18–21; lost vs. UCLA 29–38; won vs. Arizona 56–55; lost at No. 4 Arizona State 7–35; lost at Oregon 23–40; lost vs. Stanford 21–42; lost vs. Navy 38–42+20−28Won 45–25 at San José State+20San José StateWon 42–37 vs. San Diego State+5San Diego StateWon 33–15 vs. Nevada+18NevadaWon 48–42 vs. Oregon State+6Oregon StateWon 22–15 at No. 17 USC+7No. 17 USCLost 18–21 at Washington State-3Washington StateLost 29–38 vs. UCLA-9UCLAWon 56–55 vs. Arizona+1ArizonaLost 7–35 at No. 4 Arizona State-28No. 4 Arizona StateLost 23–40 at Oregon-17OregonLost 21–42 vs. Stanford-21StanfordLost 38–42 vs. Navy-4Navy
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7atSan José StateW 45–⁠2554%
Sep 14vsSan Diego StateW 42–⁠3750%
Sep 21vsNevadaW 33–⁠1552%
Sep 28vsOregon StateW 48–⁠4281%
Oct 5at17USCW 22–⁠1527%
Oct 19atWashington StateL 18–⁠2148%
Oct 26vsUCLAL 29–⁠3861%
Nov 2vsArizonaW 56–⁠5552%
Nov 9at4Arizona StateL 7–⁠3521%
Nov 16atOregonL 23–⁠4042%
Nov 23vsStanfordL 21–⁠4257%
Dec 25Bowls & playoffvsNavyAloha BowlL 38–⁠4240%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Navy 42–⁠38 in the Aloha Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 75th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 21
  2. Wk 9: 19

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1996.

Consensus All-AmericanTony Gonzalez, TE

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 5th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
382–⁠407
Coach
Steve Mariucci
Elo
1448 −8 this season
SP+ rating
4.6 No. 49 of 111; offense No. 15, defense No. 90
SRS
2.9 No. 48 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Hue Jackson
Defensive coordinator
Tom Holmoe

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 1Tony Gonzalez TEKansas City Chiefs
Rd 1Tarik Glenn OTIndianapolis Colts
Rd 4Pat Barnes QBKansas City Chiefs

All-Pac-10

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arizona State8–⁠011–⁠14
Washington7–⁠19–⁠316
Stanford5–⁠37–⁠5
UCLA4–⁠45–⁠6
Oregon3–⁠56–⁠5
USC3–⁠56–⁠6
California3–⁠56–⁠6
Arizona3–⁠55–⁠6
Washington State3–⁠55–⁠6
Oregon State1–⁠72–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.